1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing system and an output device capable of arbitrarily changing the image output style as desired by the user, a method therefor, and a program product storing a program therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are cases where each user desires a different output style, for example, in making a hard copy of an original which the user has prepared. Moreover, there are cases where a user desires a different output style for each page. In such cases, in outputting and copying all the print pages, the output style is manually changed; for example, the front cover is copied on single-side of a sheet, and the other pages are copied on double-sides or a plurality of pages are copied being scaled down on one sheet. Here, the page refers to the number of pages of the original image data (this applies hereafter). That is, the number of pages of the original image data does not always the same as that of the output matter.
On the other hand, an output device has been proposed which is capable of reducing the consumption of toner and recording paper by, in making a plurality of copies of an original, making only one normal-size copy of the original and making the other copies so that the original is scaled.
However, the output device described in the prior art requires all the pages of the print, which is the original, to be output once, so that sheets are wasted in accordance with the amount of the original. In addition, this output device cannot meet the demand that each page be output in a different style.